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A recently introduced annual statistic by Brazil’s newly established industry association ABRASOL based in São Paulo shows that in 2016, the country was again the one with the third-largest number of new installations and the largest solar thermal market in South America. The 1,304,922 m² of newly installed glazed and unglazed water collector area (0.91 GWth) added in 2016 have put it only slightly ahead of India and behind China and Turkey. Brazil’s glazed collector market experienced a comparatively small drop of 4 % considering the country’s ongoing economic and political crisis and the slowdown of Minha Casa Minha Vida (My house, My Life), the programme which had made solar water heaters a requirement for new social housing projects. Reduced purchasing power led to a 10 % decline in the sales of unglazed collectors for swimming pools and vacuum tube collectors played only a minor role last year, garnering 2 % of sales.

Industrial solar heat is far from being a standard yet, but it is more widespread than you might think. The first World Map of Solar Process Heat Specialists shows 71 companies in 22 countries which reported almost 400 reference systems. Together with additional plants included in the online portal ship-plants.info, the world market for industrial process heat comprises at a minimum 525 plants with an collector or mirror area of at least 416,414 m².

The Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI) and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) have teamed up for the international Solar Payback project, which aims to increase the use of solar thermal energy in industrial processes. The photo shows the partners during the Kick-Off Meeting in Mumbai, India, on 16 December 2016. Supported by the German Federal Environment Ministry funded by the International Climate Initiative, the three-year project will be implemented in India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil. It is coordinated by the German Solar Association BSW-Solar and eleven partner organisations: three German companies, plus each target country’s national solar industry association and German chamber of commerce.

The implementation of voluntary collector label Solergy will enter into the second phase in 2016. The European Commission has confirmed that there was no likelihood of confusing the voluntary mark with the official energy labelling stipulated since September 2015 for heating devices across Europe, the Steering Committee of the Solar Heating Initiative said in a letter sent to selected stakeholders in the middle of December. The letter went on to explain that it would now be the responsibility of DIN Certco, the German certification body, to issue Solergy labels officially and register the certificates in an online database. During the first phase in the second half of 2015, it had been Stefan Abrecht, the initiator of the voluntary collector label and General Manager of German company Solar Experience, who had issued the certificates.

The German solar thermal market has shrunk yet again. The figures for 2012 show a 9% drop in sales compared to 2011. This year has been off to a very slow start as well: In the first quarter of 2013, collector area sales were down by 19% compared to the same period last year, according to the BDH/BSI statistics. The industry seems to finally wake up to the harsh reality, conceding that something is fundamentally wrong with the market’s development. Signs of a wake-up call were quite apparent at the yearly Solar Thermal Energy Symposium, which took place at the end of April and had been organised by the German East-Bavarian Institute for Technology Transfer, OTTI. This time, there was none of the usual talk about being patient and letting the high oil price do its work. At the start of the event, representatives from associations, scientific institutes and the Federal Environment Ministry spoke openly about the industry’s home-grown problems.
Photos: OTTI

The first conference “Solar District Heating – Technical solutions, urban planning and business models” took place in the Swedish town of Malmö on 9 and 10 April 2013. It brought together 120 participants from 19 countries: manufacturers, district heating companies, scientists and industry associations. Examples from Sweden made clear that it is not easy to integrate solar heat into a system which has not been designed for it. The main topics in the presentations from Sweden were operation issues and the question what is a fair price for solar heat. But an ongoing discussion in Germany illustrates that the integration of solar into district heating networks also has strong economic and political elements. The photo shows the conference participants visiting a solar plant operated by E.ON Sweden in the Western Harbour of Malmö.
Photo: Solites

After a long debate, the tax bill for the energy-efficient modernisation of buildings died before being enacted. In summer 2011, the German parliament had agreed on the law, which was to become part of the German climate action plan. But because it would have affected the states’ budgets, their approval was needed as well. In January 2013, the Federal Council (the legislative body representing the states) announced that efforts to mediate between the federal government and the states had ultimately failed to delivery any results. The draft will not become law. There will be no tax credit for insulating one’s house. Property owners, however, can still pass 11 % of the costs on to the tenants each year.
Photo: Viktor Mildenberger/pixelio.de

Despite a good start, 2012 has not seen any upturn in the German solar thermal industry, as latest figures show. Carsten Kuhlmann (in the middle) from the heating manufacturers association BDH expects a newly installed collector area of 1.2 million m², which would be 5 % less than in 2011. The number was part of Kuhlmann’s presentation at the Forum Solarpraxis, a conference in Berlin, Germany, at which scientists, associations and industry representatives discussed the future of solar heating and cooling at the end of November. The photo shows the German renewable energy journalist Dr. Detlef Koenemann (left) and moderator of the session and Jörg Mayer, Managing Director of the German solar industry association BSW Solar.
Photo: Solarpraxis

The Federal Environment Ministry has approved new frame conditions for the MAP, the national Market Rebate Programme for Renewable Energies. Since 15 August, house owners have been receiving a minimum subsidy of EUR 1,500 for a solar combi system, which supplies hot water and space heating. The original tariff of 90 EUR/m2 stays in place additionally. The German Environment Minister, Peter Altmaier (see photo), has also reinforced the state’s commitment to process heat: Clients can now receive a subsidy of 50 % of the net investment costs under the MAP programme. So far, the only measure to cover part of the investment costs (30%) had been a low-interest loan by the German KfW banking group.
Photo: German Environment Ministry

With half a year delay, the German solar industry association Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW Solar) officially presented its Roadmap for Solar Heat at the Intersolar Europe in June 2012. The roadmap describes scenarios to develop solar thermal in Germany and shows the policies needed to implement them. While the roadmap’s outlook is being criticised for sounding too optimistic, one of the authors, Matthias Reitzenstein, emphasises that the paper is not meant to be a prediction of what will happen but rather a guide about what needs to be done.
Chart: Roadmap of Solar Heat, BSW Solar